G7 Summit

Biden Might Not Attend G7 Summit in Person

AP
U.S. President Joe Biden talks with reporters at the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., on Wednesday.

By Hiroyuki Tanaka and Kazuhiko Makita / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondents

14:45 JST, May 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden said he might attend the upcoming Group of Seven summit in Japan virtually, depending on the political impasse over the U.S. government’s debt ceiling.

“Depending on the state of play in the negotiations, it’s possible I would either have to delay my trip — not delay — not go and do it virtually,” Biden told reporters on Wednesday.

The G7 summit kicks off in Hiroshima on May 19.

Biden had also hinted Tuesday that he might cancel the trip to Japan if the debt ceiling issue is not resolved.

The Biden administration is calling for an unconditional increase in the U.S. government’s debt limit, while Republicans are demanding a reduction in spending. House Republicans recently passed their own debt ceiling bill, and the two sides have failed to reach an agreement.

Republicans are “literally, not figuratively, holding the economy hostage by threatening to default on our nation’s debt — debt we’ve already incurred,” Biden said Wednesday. He also warned that a debt default would cause significant damage to the global economy.