Unearthed emails reveal White House nixed Biden visiting ship because of 'how many steps were involved'
Records show, as part of a FOIA request by Protect the Public's Trust obtained by Fox News Digital, that Biden was set to visit a National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) while touring a Philadelphia shipyard in July 2023.
However, according to the emails, that visit to the vessel was scrapped because of "how many steps were involved to get on the ship."
The emails show that the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) was engaged in a major project at the Philadelphia shipyard at the time that Biden was planning to visit to tout offshore wind and clean energy jobs.
A MARAD official emailed members of the Office of Secure Transportation, with the Department of Transportation CC'd, on July 17, 2023 that said, "No visit to the NSMV vessel is planned after the WH realized how many steps were involved to get on the ship. {True – lots of steps on grating}."
The email exchanges also show a lack of coordination between the White House and MARAD, an agency of the DOT, as the next day an email between DOT officials said, "MARAD hasn't had anyone reach out to them from WH. All info they have received has been from Philly shipyard. S2 team reached out to WH Advance, and that is how we confirmed the visit was scheduled. Nothing else heard and no further call made or received on this event that I am aware of."
The decision to skip visiting the vessel in the shipyard came a little more than a month after Biden faced questions over his mental and physical sharpness when he stumbled and fell on stage at an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on June 1, 2023.
The White House said at the time that the president tripped over a sandbag and that he was not injured by the fall.
Around the same time, White House officials were rejecting concerns from conservatives about Biden's health and insisting he was able to perform his duties at a high level.
Roughly a week after the event in Philadelphia, then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre bristled at a question about Biden's age and whether the White House could assure people there was nothing to be concerned about by outlining the president's accomplishments.
"Look, we've been asked this question multiple times," Jean-Pierre said. "And you have a president who — I just went through his Unity Agenda — what we've been able to do in a bipartisan way as it relates to issues that really matter to the American people — right? — the Cancer Moonshot, which is actually going to make a difference with people and family — fam- — Americans who have family members dealing with cancer. That is something that this President has been able to do."
Fox News Digital reached out to Biden's office and the Philadelphia shipyard for comment.
"There's an awful lot wrong here, beginning with the White House planning a presidential visit to one of the most important shipyards in the nation without bothering to give a heads-up to the Department of Transportation, which has major ongoing projects there," Protect the Public's Trust Director Michael Chamberlain told Fox News Digital.
"That's amateurish. Second and far more critical, the president's staff was proscribing events he couldn't physically handle more than a year before he dropped out of the reelection race, all while lambasting anyone who claimed he wasn't fit enough to complete the Ironman Competition. I realize there's an elevator down to the White House Situation Room, but most voters would like to think they're pulling the lever for a president who could take the stairs in an emergency."
A former Biden aide pushed back on that narrative, saying that it is "ironic that an organization called 'Protect the Public Trust' is more interested in how many steps the former President took than the current President's cost-raising agenda and close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein."
"The group is presenting a deceptive story with this 'don't look at Epstein' bait based on a single email with no context and they know it."
A former Biden administration official reached by Fox News Digital referenced the massive size of the shipyard and that the size would be considered when planning events like this, adding that the email references steps and not stairs specifically.
The former official also pushed back on the person sending the email not having spoken directly with someone at the White House and explained that several teams are involved in arranging events like the one at the shipyard, considering factors like accessibility, security risks, visuals, and other factors.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
38 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
After Trump greets Putin with red carpet treatment, Ukrainians feel betrayed
KYIV, Ukraine — In Kyiv, Ukrainians living under near daily Russian bombardment watched with astonishment as their country's most important ally rolled out a red carpet in Alaska for the man they blame for more than three years of war, bloodshed and loss. Natalya Lypei, 66, a Kyiv resident, was taken aback: The images flashing on her phone screen showed President Trump greeting Vladimir Putin warmly and clapping as the Russian leader approached him, after having been escorted into the country by four American fighter jets. Trump also ignored the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court that has kept him mostly confined at home or in nations that are strong allies of Moscow. 'How can you welcome a tyrant like that?' she asked, echoing the views of many Kyiv residents. The red carpet treatment, the lack of concrete decisions for Ukraine and, most significant, neglecting the significance of sanctions — a policy that could turn the tide in Kyiv's favor — have felt like a betrayal for Ukrainians who have borne enormous suffering in the almost 3½ years since Russia's full-scale invasion. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian service members have been killed or wounded, thousands of civilians have been killed in Russian strikes, and a fifth of the country is under occupation, severing families, properties and Ukraine's territorial integrity. On Ukrainian social media, memes of Putin and Trump walking down a red carpet strewn with dead Ukrainian bodies were widely shared. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had anticipated that the meeting would be a boon for Putin and that there would be little in the way of results. Speaking to reporters in the days leading up to the summit, he said it would end up being a public relations victory for the Russian leader. Above all else, he said, Putin was seeking a photo on American soil — which he got in Friday's meeting. It was the first time in a decade that Putin had stepped foot in the U.S., ending international isolation spurred by the 2022 Ukraine invasion; in other words, it was a win. For Lypei, whose serviceman son was killed last year, it was like attending another funeral, a fresh loss. This time, she said, her country's hopes for a just peace. 'It hurts me a lot that my child died in a full-scale war, and today we saw a new funeral,' she said. Her 34-year-old son fought with Ukraine's 79th Brigade and was killed in the Donetsk region, one of the areas Putin wants Ukraine to cede to Russia as a condition for a truce. 'I do not wish anyone that sorrow, that sadness, those tears,' she said. Natalya Cucil, 60, another Kyiv resident, said she was surprised that Trump did not produce any results from the meeting, despite his stated efforts to end the war. 'There are no results and we don't know if there will be, although we always expect something and hope for it,' she said. Pensioner Anatolii Kovalenko, 72, said no matter what was discussed between the two leaders, it is clear his country's adversary has won in the sphere of public relations. 'Putin won this meeting 100%,' he said. Kullab and Babenko write for the Associated Press.
New York Post
38 minutes ago
- New York Post
Printout identifying gift, menu at Trump-Putin summit left at hotel printer
WASHINGTON — An eight-page printout containing non-public information such as President Trump's gift for Vladimir Putin and their anticipated lunch menu was allegedly left at an Anchorage hotel printer hours before the high-profile Ukraine peace summit. The embarrassing snafu revealed little if any sensitive security information — as most scheduled items on the agenda for the summit on the military's Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson already were public information — but immediately became a media sensation after being reported by NPR. The formerly publicly funded news outlet reported that three guests at the four-star Hotel Captain Cook found the papers in a public printer. Advertisement 3 A US official mistakenly left planning documents for Friday's Anchorage peace talks in a public printer. REUTERS Two pages contained the menu for an ultimately aborted lunch, which was to include filet mignon with brandy peppercorn sauce and a salad with champaign vinaigrette, and a third included a seating chart with the two presidents centered around a board room-style table. Two additional pages contained the names, photos and participants of an anticipated expanded meeting between Russian and US officials — with aides instructed that the Russian leader's name is pronounced 'POO-tihn.' Advertisement It also revealed Trump intended to gift Putin was an American bald eagle desk statue, and listed three phone numbers of advance staffers who help set up the events. The White House had already published most of the scheduled events listed in the document, though much ultimately didn't happen or were abbreviated as Trump ditched his plan to seek an immediate cease-fire and instead returned to Washington optimist about brokering a full peace deal. 3 The documents contained few bombshells because most of the planned events were already announced in the daily White House schedule. REUTERS 3 Russian and US leaders ultimately left early as Trump phoned Europe to discuss a possible full peace deal rather than a cease-fire. POOL/AFP via Getty Images Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due at the White House Monday to discuss Putin's request that he relinquish the remainder of Donetsk province in exchange for a robust international peacekeeping force including British and French troops to shield against further Russian aggression.
Time Magazine
39 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Trump is Seduced By Summits, but He Failed to Deliver Again
The red carpet was perfectly rolled out. The military flyover was precisely timed. The backdrop reading 'Pursuing Peace' was strategically positioned for maximum photogenic impact. And yet, when the curtain fell on Donald Trump's carefully choreographed summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the American president had little to show for his theatrical diplomacy except the bitter taste of being outmaneuvered by a more cunning adversary. The Alaska meeting, which concluded without the Ukraine ceasefire Trump had promised, represents the latest chapter in a troubling pattern: the 45th and 47th president's persistent confusion of stagecraft for statecraft. Where Reagan walked away from Reykjavik rather than accept a bad deal, Trump seems perpetually seduced by the optics of the moment, the handshake photo, the joint press conference that suggests progress where none exists. The Art of the Non-Deal Putin emerged from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson having achieved precisely what he came for: legitimacy on American soil, the erosion of Western unity, and a platform to present his territorial demands as reasonable 'agreements.' Trump, meanwhile, offered the unconvincing assurance that they had made 'many, many points that we agreed on'—diplomatic speak for admitting you've been played. The choice of venue itself revealed Trump's weakness for symbolism over substance. Alaska, purchased from Russia 158 years ago for $7.2 million, was supposed to be a clever metaphor for American strength. Instead, it became the stage for Putin to pitch his own 'land deal of the century'—demanding Ukraine surrender the very territories his forces have failed to fully capture. The irony was lost on Trump, but certainly not on Putin, who understands better than most that in diplomacy, symbols matter only when backed by resolve. A Familiar Pattern of Failure This debacle echoes the spectacular miscalculation of Trump's 2018 Singapore summit with Kim Jong Un—another masterclass in mistaking pageantry for progress. There, too, Trump was mesmerized by the unprecedented nature of the meeting, the historical backdrop, the made-for-television moments that would supposedly cement his legacy as a dealmaker. Like Putin in Alaska, Kim understood exactly what he was getting: international legitimacy, a pause in American pressure, and the optics of parity with the world's most powerful leader. What did Trump get? A vague promise of denuclearization that Kim had no intention of keeping, and a suspension of joint military exercises with South Korea that Beijing and Pyongyang had long desired. The pattern is unmistakable: Trump approaches these encounters like a real estate developer staging a property showing, focused on creating an atmosphere of possibility rather than nailing down concrete commitments. He mistakes the buzz of activity, the presence of cameras, the gravity of the moment for actual achievement. The Seduction of the Summit What makes Trump particularly vulnerable to these diplomatic theater productions is his fundamental misunderstanding of how authoritarian leaders operate. Unlike democratic politicians who must constantly justify their actions to skeptical publics and hostile media, autocrats like Putin and Kim arrive at these summits with clear, patient, long-term objectives. Putin came to Alaska not to end the war in Ukraine but to begin the process of ending American support for Ukraine. His goal was never a quick ceasefire but rather the gradual normalization of Russian territorial conquest through the legitimizing embrace of American diplomacy. Every moment Trump spent treating Putin as a reasonable partner rather than an international pariah advanced this strategic objective. The Russian president's post-summit warning that Ukraine and European capitals shouldn't 'throw a wrench in the works' of the peace process revealed the game: having failed to divide NATO through military conquest, Putin is now attempting to fracture the alliance through American diplomatic concessions. The Price of Performance Trump's defenders will argue that dialogue is better than silence, that even unsuccessful summits can lay the groundwork for future progress. This misses the fundamental asymmetry at work. For Putin, every day the war continues while sanctions remain suspended is a victory. Every photograph of him being treated as a legitimate world leader undermines the international isolation that represents the West's most powerful non-military weapon. The real casualty of the Alaska summit was not Ukrainian territory —though Putin's demands for Donetsk and Luhansk remain on the table—but American credibility. European allies who watched Trump roll out the red carpet for a war criminal while Ukraine continues to suffer daily bombardment now have a legitimate reason to question whether Washington can be trusted to maintain its commitments when the going gets tough. Learning from Reagan's Example The contrast with genuine statecraft could not be starker. When Ronald Reagan met Mikhail Gorbachev at Reykjavik in 1986, he too was tempted by the prospect of a historic breakthrough. But when Gorbachev tried to extract concessions on the Strategic Defense Initiative, Reagan walked away. No deal was better than a bad deal. Trump's inability to make this calculation – his compulsive need to claim victory even in defeat – makes him uniquely ill-suited for the delicate work of great power diplomacy. Putin, who has spent decades studying American presidents, understands this weakness and exploits it ruthlessly. The lesson from Alaska is not that diplomacy with adversaries is impossible, but that it requires the kind of patient, principled approach that prioritizes substance over spectacle. Until Trump learns to distinguish between the art of the deal and the art of the photo opportunity, he will continue to find himself outmaneuvered by craftier opponents who understand that in international relations, the best performance is often no performance at all. The cameras have left Anchorage, but the consequences of Trump's latest diplomatic theater will linger long after the final curtain call.
