Press Gaggle by Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Aboard Air Force One, 5/19/12

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Chicago, Illinois

8:23 P.M. EDT

MR. RHODES:  Hi, guys.  All right, so I’ll just give you a readout of the bilat with Chancellor Merkel.  You saw obviously the communiqué and the briefing from earlier today, and the President’s statement. 

I will say -- we noted this in the pool report -- that the meetings concluded with all the leaders moving into an adjacent room to watch the end of the Chelsea-Bayern Munich game.  They watched the entire penalty kick series unfold.  And the President was able to offer his sympathy to Chancellor Merkel when that concluded, as did Prime Minister Cameron. 

But then, they had a bilateral discussion that continued on a lot of the subjects that they had already discussed, both at the G8 meetings and in some of their side conversations over the course of the G8 Summit.  They continued their discussion about the eurozone, and including the emerging consensus for steps that need to be taken to promote growth in the immediate term, even as Europe continues with its plans for fiscal consolidation.

And they discussed some more -- the meeting that will take place later this week among European leaders, and agreed to stay in touch on issues related to the eurozone and global economy going forward through those meetings and into the G20.

They briefly -- they discussed Iran.  And I think that we are in complete alignment with the Germans heading into the next round of P5-plus-1 talks.  We’ve obviously been coordinating closely with the European Union and the three members -- three European members of the P5-plus-1.  And Lady Ashton, who’s the lead negotiator, and the two leaders of course agree that Baghdad is an opportunity for the Iranians and the P5-plus-1 to discuss concrete steps that could be taken to build confidence in the peaceful nature of Iranian program. 

But then they also discussed Afghanistan in advance of the NATO Summit.  They focused on the three areas that will be the focus of the ISAF meeting in Afghanistan, and that is the transition in which ISAF moves into a support role in 2013 on the way to a full transition to Afghan lead in 2014.  And they also discussed the Afghan National Security Forces and the enduring support that NATO will provide to the ANSF as well as the Afghan government.

Germany, as you may know, recently, at a bilateral meeting between President Karzai and Chancellor Merkel, announced significant long-term support for the ANSF of 150 million euros on the other side of 2014.  So that’s an important contribution to the future of sustainment of Afghan security forces and that have reached a similar agreement with Afghanistan as our SPA, in terms of a strategic partnership with Afghanistan beyond 2014.

So on these security issues, Iran and Afghanistan, we really are in lockstep with the Germans.  And so it was a good opportunity for them have those conversations before the NATO Summit, the P5-plus-1 talks, and the eurozone meeting later this week.

Q    Did Merkel seek any assurances from Obama that her fiscal consolidation plans weren’t getting pushed to the sidelines given how much talk there’s been at the summit about the growth agenda?

MR. RHODES:  No, I don’t think she sought that type of assurance.  I think there is an understanding that has been developing over time as this debate has shifted that you can go forward with the fiscal consolidation, and you can have the pact that Chancellor Merkel showed so much leadership in getting around fiscal reforms within the eurozone, while also pursuing steps to promote growth at the same time. 

And so, for instance, there is discussion of a growth pact -- not to take the place of the fiscal pact -- but to be taken above and beyond the fiscal reforms.  So I think what really we saw here in these discussions is the way in which the debate has evolved, and there is a growing recognition of the need to take steps in the immediate term that can promote growth in the eurozone while managing the crisis around the political situation in Greece and across Europe, and also pursuing the fiscal consolidation that Chancellor Merkel and others have been focused on.

Q    Is she part of that growing recognition?  And how did she articulate to the President to what extent she’s willing to modify her original stance?

MR. RHODES:  Well, I think, again -- I think she is.  I think you’ve seen her in recent days say that she was certainly open to discussing a growth pact that President Hollande had called for, and she was open to discussing some form of stimulus around Greece.  And I think at the discussions over the course of the last two days, the leaders discussed, again, not steps that would take the place of fiscal reforms and structural reforms within the eurozone, but that could be taken on top of that to promote growth and to help stabilize the situation.  And also, you see in the communiqué, language to the effect and language that recognizes the need to proceed with some flexibility in dealing with the challenges in the eurozone.

So I think she certainly has been as involved in these issues as any leader in Europe, and is going to continue to be a leader on all these issues.  And again, as a part of I think the consensus we saw in the communiqué and in the discussions, that you can do growth and fiscal consolidation on two tracks.

Q    No new -- the ball wasn’t advanced in any kind of specific way in this bilat that you’re going to read out here?

MR. RHODES:  Well, I actually think that the most consequential discussions about the eurozone really took place in the G8 meeting, the G8 discussion, and the -- some of the side conversations that the leaders had.  And they had, frankly, hashed out a lot of these issues in the negotiation in the communiqué. 

So this was kind of a wrap-up discussion.  This was not a discussion to go far beyond what had already been covered over the course of the previous 24 hours or so.

Q    When she first arrived he indicated that he understood she had a lot on her plate.  Was there any sense in the meeting -- did she vent any frustration at feeling isolated at this meeting with everybody emphasizing growth?

MR. RHODES:  No, I think -- look, as I said earlier, I think obviously she’s had a lot on her plate with the situation in the eurozone, her first meeting with President Hollande, and then she had a huge public meeting in Germany the day she flew out.  And then, frankly, to her credit -- the credit of the other European leaders, they had a very long day yesterday on their European clock because they were up well into the night, which was early morning hours their time.

But I think what the President underscored is just how much leadership Germany plays within the eurozone, and that there is an extraordinary responsibility that they have carried through all of these steps over the course of the last two and a half years.  Chancellor Merkel has been at the center of that, which is going to be going forward as we head into the talks later this week.

So again, I think there is a recognition of a leadership role that Germany plays in the eurozone.  And there is a sense that these new leaders, Prime Minister Monti and now President Hollande, have gotten off to a good start.  And I think that was a big part of what was accomplished at the G8.  This group of leaders has never met before.  You’ve never had this particular collection -- sit down and get at these global economic issues, and to do so at a critical juncture.  And I think that provides a basis going forward for their talks later this week and then for the G20 next month.

Q    How detailed was their discussion of Greece?

MR. RHODES:  Greece certainly came up.  And they I think reflected what's in the communiqué, which is, there is an interest in keeping Greece in the eurozone as they go through with their commitments.  And I think they discussed steps that can be taken to support that objective, and recognize that Greece has its own political process to work through in the next month.  And as the President said in his statement, the Greek people are going through very difficult times. 

But again, I think it's the President's belief and the Chancellor's belief that the Europeans have the capability to deal with this challenge; that they can build on the work that they've already done by taking additional steps around growth and stabilizing the situation in the eurozone.  And he's confident that they'll do so.

Q    How long was their bilat?

MR. RHODES:  I think it was 45 minutes, roughly.  And again, they had had -- they had spent a lot of time together already throughout the course of the summit.  So it was really an opportunity for them to just wrap up together and to kind of recognize all the work that had been done at the G8, and again, the role Germany plays in the eurozone, but also to look ahead to two big security events -- the NATO summit on Afghanistan and the P5-plus-1 talks and Iran, where Germany has really been a critical partner with us that’s been in total lockstep.

Q    Did Merkel ask for the bilat?

MR. RHODES:  Actually, they had discussed for some time being able to get together at this -- at the G8.  And we actually -- remembering that when the President talked to her while she was on vacation I think recently, they discussed it would be very good to get together on their own, on the sidelines of the G8.  And so it was a matter of just finding the time.  And, frankly, the G8 schedule was so booked that the time we found was on the other end of the G8.

Q    Could we just switch to NATO, quickly?  I just wanted to get your sense of where things stand with Pakistan and reopening the supply route, and if there's any chance at this point that Obama and Zardari will meet separately on the sidelines of the summit.

MR. RHODES:  We don’t have any plans for a bilateral meeting with President Zardari.  The only bilateral meeting we have scheduled is with President Karzai tomorrow morning, and then they’re in the summit sessions.  President Zardari will of course be in the ISAF session.  And so the President will certainly have a chance to see him and speak to him.

On the supply lines, we believe that this is going to be resolved.  There have been positive steps, statements made by the Pakistanis, and we're currently negotiating the opening of the supply lines with them; we expect that to take some time.  So there is still work to be done through those negotiations.

But again, based on the statements they’ve made and the negotiations that we've started, we believe it's going to be accomplished.

Q    So you don’t think it's going to happen this weekend?

MR. RHODES:  We're not anticipating necessarily closing out those negotiations this weekend.  A lot of it is happening, frankly, at the working level between our governments.  We obviously keep you updated, but it's our sense that both sides want to get it done, it will get done.  But right now, we're in a process of negotiation about how exactly that’s going to happen.

Q    Is that basically why -- I mean, the President really can't meet with Zardari until this is formally resolved.  Is that why there's not a scheduled meeting at this point?

MR. RHODES:  Not necessarily.  I mean, he met with Prime Minister Gilani in Seoul when this issue was still in play.  So I think it was more a matter of simply, he's got a lot of time devoted to chairing these summits.  President Karzai, of course, and the Secretary General of NATO, he's going to meet with before the summit because it's important for them to get aligned as we head into these discussions on Afghanistan. 

Q    Aligned?

MR. RHODES:  Aligned, yes.  But beyond that, we don’t anticipate there being any more bilateral meetings.  We'll let you know if that changes, but it's a pretty full summit schedule.

Q    Do you know if the President was briefed on the arrests in Chicago?  This terrorism plot?  And do you know more about it?

MR. RHODES:  I'm not aware that he has been.  I could check on that, but not to my knowledge. 

Q    Do you have any comment on that situation?

MR. RHODES:  The only comment I'd make is that, again, there is always -- look, we go and you guys come with us to summits several times a year now, for three and a half years.  Every single city we go to there's obviously protests and security disruptions. 

We're very confident in the ability of Chicago, together with the United States government, to have a very successful event over the course of the next two days.  If these more serious allegations are true, then I think it was effective work in making sure that they couldn’t pose any additional threat to public security.  But I'll have to wait -- what additional information comes out before getting into the specifics of this case.

Q    I got one more.  Is there any actual move for a burger outing between the President and Monsieur Hollande?  It was mentioned yesterday he wanted to hear what he thought about the burgers in Chicago.  Will he get a chance to find out?

MR. RHODES:  I'm not aware of a particular hamburger summit on the agenda.  There’s opportunities embedded within the menu of the summit, so we'll have to keep you abreast of the dinner tomorrow night at Soldier Field. 

But actually, I will say that a number of the European leaders -- and I'll let them speak to their schedules -- were planning some pretty outings of their own to see the sights in Chicago, to see the architecture.  And so I think you'll see leaders taking advantage of the great setting of the city of Chicago over the course of the next few days.  And again, for some of us here, it's a bit of a homecoming, too.  So we're looking forward to seeing a city that is very close to our hearts.

MR. RHODES:  Thanks, guys.

END
8:38 P.M. EDT

Statement by President Obama at Closing of G8 Summit

Aspen Cabin
Camp David, Maryland

6:04 P.M. EDT

Good afternoon, everybody.  It has been a great pleasure to host the leaders of some of the world’s largest economies here at Camp David.  I think the surroundings gave us an opportunity to hold some intimate discussions and make some genuine progress.

For the past three years, our nations have worked together and with others first to rescue a global economy from freefall, then to wrestle it back to a path of recovery and growth.  Our progress has been tested at times by shocks like the disaster in Japan, for example.  Today it's threatened once again by the serious situation in the eurozone. 

As all the leaders here today agreed, growth and jobs must be our top priority.  A stable, growing European economy is in everybody’s best interests -- including America’s.  Europe is our largest economic partner.  Put simply, if a company is forced to cut back in Paris or Madrid, that might mean less business for manufacturers in Pittsburgh or Milwaukee.  And that might mean a tougher time for families and communities that depend on that business. 

And that’s why, even as we’ve confronted our own economic challenges over the past few years, we’ve collaborated closely with our European allies and partners as they’ve confronted theirs.  And today, we discussed ways they can promote growth and job creation right now, while still carrying out reforms necessary to stabilize and strengthen their economies for the future. 

We know it is possible -- in part, based on our own experience here.  In my earliest days in office, we took decisive steps to confront our own financial crisis -- from making banks submit to stress tests to rebuilding their capital -- and we put in place some of the strongest financial reforms since the Great Depression. 

At the same time, we worked to get our own fiscal house in order in a responsible way.  And through it all, even as we worked to stabilize the financial sector and bring down our deficits and debt over the longer term, we stayed focused on growing the economy and creating jobs in the immediate term.

Of course, we still have a lot of work to do.  Too many of our people are still looking for jobs that pay the bills.  Our deficits are still too high.  But after shrinking by nearly 9 percent the quarter before I took office, America's economy has now grown for almost three consecutive years.  After losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month, our businesses have created more than 4 million jobs over the past 26 months.  Exports have surged and manufacturers are investing in America again.

And this economic growth then gives us more room to take a balanced approach to reducing our deficit and debt, while preserving our investments in the drivers of growth and job creation over the long term -- education, innovation, and infrastructure for the 21st century.

Europe’s situation, of course, is more complicated.  They’ve got a political and economic crisis facing Greece, slow growth and very high unemployment in several countries.  And what’s more, when they want to decide on a way to move forward, there are 17 countries in the eurozone that need to come to an agreement.  We recognize that and we respect that. 

But the direction the debate has taken recently should give us confidence.  Europe has taken significant steps to manage the crisis.  Individual countries and the European Union as a whole have engaged in significant reforms that will increase the prospects of long-term growth.  And there’s now an emerging consensus that more must be done to promote growth and job creation right now in the context of these fiscal and structural reforms.  That consensus for progress was strengthened here at Camp David. 

Today we agreed that we must take steps to boost confidence and to promote growth and demand while getting our fiscal houses in order.  We agreed upon the importance of a strong and cohesive eurozone, and affirmed our interest in Greece staying in the eurozone while respecting its commitments.  Of course, we also recognized the painful sacrifices that the Greek people are making at this difficult time, and I know that my European colleagues will carry forward these discussions as they prepare for meetings next week. 

The leaders here understand the stakes.  They know the magnitude of the choices they have to make and the enormous political, economic, and social costs if they don’t.  In addition to our G8 meeting, it was -- I was able to talk to them individually over the last two days and I reaffirmed that Europe has the capacity to meet its challenges, and America is not only confident in their ability to meet their challenges, but we are supportive of their efforts. 

This morning, I updated you on the progress we made last night in our discussion of security issues.  And today, following our discussion of the economy, we also made progress on a range of other important challenges.  We discussed the importance of pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy for energy security in a safe and sustainable way.  Leaders agreed to join a new U.S.-led coalition to address climate change, in part by reducing short-lived pollutants.  And in the face of increasing disruptions in the supply of oil, we agreed that we must closely monitor global energy markets.  Together, we stand ready to call upon the International Energy Agency to take action to ensure that the market remains fully and timely supplied.

We also announced a new alliance on food security with African leaders and the private sector as part of an effort to lift 50 million people out of poverty over the next decade.  We discussed our support for a sustainable Afghan economy as we wind down the war, and we reaffirmed our support for the democratic transitions underway in the Middle East and North Africa.

So I’m very pleased that we were able to make some important progress here at Camp David.  And we’re going to keep at it.  Tomorrow we begin our NATO summit in my hometown of Chicago where we’ll discuss our plans to responsibly end the war in Afghanistan.  Next week, European leaders will gather to discuss their next steps on the eurozone.  Next month, we’ll all have the chance to continue this collaboration at the G20 in Mexico.  And I look forward to building on this progress in promoting economic recovery in the weeks and months to come.

Thank you very much, everybody.  I hope you've enjoyed the great views and the great weather.