US President Joe Biden, a self-described “gaffe machine”, is set to deliver his first formal White House press conference on Thursday.
The fact that Mr Biden has waited 65 days into his presidency to engage the White House press corps in a traditional briefing marks a fairly significant historical aberration.
Every US president since Ronald Reagan has held at least two traditional press conferences within his first 50 days, according to data provided to The National by Martha Kumar, a presidential historian who specialises in White House relations with the press.
Within their first 50 days in office, Donald Trump held five press conferences, Barack Obama held two and George W Bush held three.
"Solo press conferences require a lot of preparation," Dr Kumar told The National, noting that Mr Reagan once spent seven and a half hours preparing for one of his famous night-time press conferences. "I imagine Biden is doing a lot."
In addition to providing public transparency, Dr Kumar noted that intense preparation required for press conferences allow the president “to bring a lot of information together” while giving the public “a sense of who the president is, what his likes and dislikes are, how much he knows about subjects and his leadership style".
“For example, with George W Bush, he had a session where they talked to his domestic policy advisers. Then the next day, he spoke with his foreign and national security team. And then he spoke with his economic team.”
Mr Biden thrived as a presidential candidate while his campaign limited his access to the press, opting instead to hold infrequent briefings with reporters during the Democratic primary and his campaign against Mr Trump.
Political reporters rarely offered public complaints about the Biden campaign’s lack of access – a stark contrast to the 2016 presidential campaign, when many journalists kept a running tally of the days Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton went without holding a press conference.
But the Washington press corps has again changed its tune since last year’s election. The White House Correspondents’ Association criticised Mr Biden this month for his lack of a formal press conference – a point that conservative media outlets relentlessly hammered home.
However, Dr Kumar’s data indicates that Mr Biden has held 47 short question-and-answer sessions with reporters, more than any president since George W Bush and only five fewer than Bill Clinton.
These exchanges usually take place while the press has access to the president when he signs executive orders, hosts visitors or walks to and from Marine One upon departing from or arriving to the White House.
Dr Kumar argued that one of these exchanges, which occurred on January 25 after Mr Biden signed an executive order, essentially served as the equivalent to a formal press conference because the president fielded several “tough questions” from multiple reporters covering a variety of areas.
The topics included issues like Afghanistan, nuclear non-proliferation, Covid-19 and the economic stimulus.
White House staffers under any president are notoriously hesitant to put their boss in a situation where he fields questions from multiple reporters for a significant length of time. Any misstep could create a political firestorm in an environment that has grown increasingly partisan over the last several decades.
In his failed 2008 presidential campaign, Mr Biden used racially coded language when he described his fellow candidate Mr Obama as “the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy".
During the same presidential campaign, he also described Ms Clinton as “qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president".
“The risk of making a mistake is something that staff members worry about more than presidents do,” said Dr Kumar. “If something went wrong in a press conference, the president might say, ‘who recommended this press conference anyway?’ And you don’t want to be the person that made that recommendation.”
Presidents can nonetheless exercise some degree of control by preselecting which reporters they call on, typically opting to favour journalists from major cable news networks, hallmark newspapers and the largest wire services.
Media columnist Margaret Sullivan criticised this tradition in a Washington Post op-ed on Wednesday, noting that it results mostly in political reporters asking topical questions instead of more specialised journalists who are better able to focus on policy.
“Political reporters cover the president, and as knowledgeable and talented as they may be, they lack the expertise of science or health journalists or ... immigration reporters who can best respond to what’s being said, which includes knowing how to challenge it with deep knowledge,” Ms Sullivan wrote.
Ms Sullivan also noted that White House reporters have “a temptation to play to the crowd” while on camera in front of a national audience.
For instance, journalists such as CNN’s Jim Acosta gained significant attention for his aggressively combative exchanges with Mr Trump, prompting the White House to revoke his press badge before a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore his credentials.
But Mr Trump would also turn to his packed press conferences to call on reporters from multiple outlets, large and small, including those he didn’t know.
At one point, he referred to Kurdish journalist Rahim Rashidi as “Mr Kurd” – a tale Rashidi would gleefully remind his colleagues of throughout the following two years at congressional hearings and diplomatic receptions.
Another time, Mr Trump told Weiija Jiang, an Asian-American reporter with CBS, to “ask China” when she asked a question regarding Covid-19 testing – prompting Jiang to ask Mr Trump why he specifically gave her that answer.
While Mr Trump called on a wide variety of reporters, his answers were often short, less policy focused and rife with factual inaccuracies. He also relied heavily on the short, informal interactions with reporters that Mr Biden has also favoured so far.
“[Mr] Trump liked the short Q&As,” said Dr Kumar. “He didn’t like digging deep on policy. Instead, he would prefer talking about what it is that he was up to. They were personal, about him and what he was thinking about at the particular time or what grievances he had.”
By contrast, Mr Obama preferred to call on a more tightly controlled, limited group of reporters while delivering lengthy, oftentimes in-the-weeds answers. Consequently, he relied heavily on one-on-one interviews with reporters and columnists that typically focused exclusively on specific policy areas he wanted to highlight.
Within the first 50 days of his administration, Mr Obama held 25 interviews with individual media outlets – far more than the five under Mr Biden and the 19 under Mr Trump.
“The idea of that separate event for [Mr] Obama was bringing in columnists and talking to them about an issue he was dealing with like the Iran nuclear deal so that he could inform their work as they wrote about the subject,” said Dr Kumar.
Mr Obama did branch out beyond the major media outlets during one press conference in 2015 when he sought to defend his administration’s diplomacy leading up to the nuclear deal.
After fielding questions on other issues from his preselected group of reporters, he opted to call on every journalist in the room so long as they had a question about the Iran deal – but he refused to address other topics.
As Mr Obama called on reporters he didn’t know, his press secretary, Josh Earnest, visibly twitched in the background.
Mr Biden may have stayed uncharacteristically on message in the opening days of his presidency, but he may yet give White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reason to twitch when he holds his much-anticipated press conference on Thursday.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Favourite things
Luxury: Enjoys window shopping for high-end bags and jewellery
Discount: She works in luxury retail, but is careful about spending, waits for sales, festivals and only buys on discount
University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China
Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai
Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China
Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
More coverage from the Future Forum
Aayan%E2%80%99s%20records
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START-UPS%20IN%20BATCH%204%20OF%20SANABIL%20500'S%20ACCELERATOR%20PROGRAMME
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THE%C2%A0SPECS
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Three trading apps to try
Sharad Nair recommends three investment apps for UAE residents:
- For beginners or people who want to start investing with limited capital, Mr Nair suggests eToro. “The low fees and low minimum balance requirements make the platform more accessible,” he says. “The user interface is straightforward to understand and operate, while its social element may help ease beginners into the idea of investing money by looking to a virtual community.”
- If you’re an experienced investor, and have $10,000 or more to invest, consider Saxo Bank. “Saxo Bank offers a more comprehensive trading platform with advanced features and insight for more experienced users. It offers a more personalised approach to opening and operating an account on their platform,” he says.
- Finally, StashAway could work for those who want a hands-off approach to their investing. “It removes one of the biggest challenges for novice traders: picking the securities in their portfolio,” Mr Nair says. “A goal-based approach or view towards investing can help motivate residents who may usually shy away from investment platforms.”
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
EGYPT SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ahmed El Shennawy, Mohamed El Shennawy, Mohamed Abou-Gabal, Mahmoud Abdel Rehem "Genesh"
Defenders: Ahmed Elmohamady, Ahmed Hegazi, Omar Gaber, Ali Gazal, Ayman Ahsraf, Mahmoud Hamdy, Baher Elmohamady, Ahmed Ayman Mansour, Mahmoud Alaa, Ahmed Abou-Elfotouh
Midfielders: Walid Soliman, Abdallah El Said, Mohamed Elneny, Tarek Hamed, Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan, Amr Warda, Nabil Emad
Forwards: Ahmed Ali, Mohamed Salah, Marwan Mohsen, Ahmed "Kouka" Hassan.
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
SPEC%20SHEET
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Jawan
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
