Biden to hold rare press conference in Japan

President Biden will take questions at a rare press conference over the weekend in Hiroshima, Japan, at the conclusion of the G7 summit, the White House announced Friday.

The press conference, scheduled for Sunday, is marked as open press, though it’s unclear how many questions Mr. Biden will take. By holding the news conference in Japan, it shuts out a host of U.S. outlets that did not make the trip to cover the summit of leaders from the top economies.

Mr. Biden on Wednesday promised to have a press conference on the debt ceiling upon returning from Japan but did not provide specifics.

“As it stands now, the intention is to go to the G7, be back here on Sunday, hold a press conference,” Mr. Biden told reporters before he left.

It’s unclear if Mr. Biden was talking about the Sunday press conference in Japan. He did imply the event will happen in the U.S., but the White House did not respond to requests to clarify his remarks.

Earlier this month, Mr. Biden confused an interview with MSNBC with “a major press conference,” sending reporters scrambling to rearrange their schedule until the White House walked back his remarks.

Mr. Biden was thinking of his MSNBC interview with Stephanie Ruhle instead of hosting a press conference, an official told The Washington Times.

Mr. Biden has held the fewest press conferences since President Reagan, according to data from the White House Transition Project at Towson University.

He has had just 24 press conferences compared with President Trump’s 43, President Obama’s 52 and President George W. Bush’s 46 at the same point in their presidencies.

It has also been more than seven months since Mr. Biden’s last solo press conference, when he took questions on Nov. 14 in Bali, Indonesia.

The White House has disputed critics who say Mr. Biden has been inaccessible to reporters by saying he often takes questions shouted at him during pool sprays, which are questions asked by a small gaggle of reporters.