Oval Office

2:33 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Well, I’m — I want to welcome back to the White House a good, loyal, and decent friend, His Majesty.  And we’ve been hanging out together for a long time.  I met him back when he was in the situation his son is, when his father was alive and I was a young senator.  And it’s good to have him back in the White House. 

You know, I want to thank you, Your Majesty, for your enduring and strategic relationship with the United States.  You’ve always been there, and we will always be there for Jordan. 

And in addition to that, we — we were talking — we had an opportunity to speak just a moment in the Diplomatic Room.  And we talked about how our — our children and my children were —  had to finish off their senior year in college on Zoom. 

And we talked about the COVID pro- — crisis.  We were able to be a little bit of help to Jordan, and we hope to be able to help some more and — in this pandemic. 

And I also want to thank you for your vital leadership in the Middle East.  You live in a tough neighborhood.  And the fact is, I look forward to hearing from His Majesty about the pressing challenges that — (a cellphone disrupts the event) — that Jordan faces.  And whoever’s — is that a call for me on the phone?  (Laughter.)  And we’re going to continue to stre- — to strengthen our bilateral cooperation. 

The world is changing.  And you always — they always kid me.  I’m always quoting Irish poets.  It says — there was a famous poem — “All changed, changed utterly.  A terrible beauty has been born.”  But a lot has changed and a lot of opportunity, but also a lot of difficulty we’re going to have to work our way through. 

So, welcome.  Welcome, welcome, welcome. 

KING ABDULLAH II:  Thank you, Mr. President.  Thank you.

Mr. President, thank you, as always, for the kindness that you showed me.  And as you alluded to, I had the honor and the privilege of knowing you with my father decades ago.  And so this is very warming for me to be able to see you in this position and to thank you for the generosity you always have shown me and my country. 

You alluded to supporting us with vaccines.  So, on behalf of Jordan and the people of Jordan, thank you so much for the leadership you’ve shown not only in supporting our country, but fighting COVID internationally.  You’ve set the standard for the rest of us to follow. 

We come together as always strong partners.  We have, as you said, many challenges in our part of the world.  I think many of us leaders from our part of the world will do the heavy lifting, which is what we need to do, on behalf of the United States.  But you can always count on me, my country, and many of our colleagues in the region.  A lot to do, sir, but with your leadership, we will prevail.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Well, as my grandfather used to say: “With the grace of God and the goodwill to the neighbors,” we’ll be able to get a lot done.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

2:37 P.M. EDT