Biden to give prime-time farewell address to nation
President Joe Biden will give his farewell address to the nation in prime time on Wednesday, Jan. 15, the White House announced Friday.
He will speak at 8 p.m. ET from the Oval Office.
The speech will come just days before he leaves office and President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
The last time Biden gave remarks from behind the Resolute desk was when he addressed his decision to withdraw from the 2024 campaign.
"I revere this office but I love my country more," Biden said at the time with family members gathered in the room. "It's been the honor of my life to serve as president but in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it's more important than any title."
Biden's only done a handful of Oval Office addresses in his four years as commander in chief. He spoke there after the Hamas terror attack on Israel and Israel's resulting war in Gaza in October 2023, and to mark the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic hitting the United States.
Biden is taking time in his final days as president to reflect on his administration and accomplishments.
On Monday, he will deliver a speech at the State Department on his foreign policy legacy and "work to strengthen America in the world," according to a senior administration official.
The senior administration official said that when Biden started his presidency, America's alliances "had been badly damaged," pointing to China, Afghanistan and the global pandemic.
"President Biden confronted these challenges head on. Now, as he prepares to leave office, our country is in a much stronger position and we have delivered results for the American people," the senior administration official. "During his remarks, President Biden will outline how our alliances and partnerships are the strongest they’ve ever been thanks to our work."
The senior administration official added that Biden will discuss the threats that America continued to face and how his administration "will hand the next administration a stronger hand than he inherited."
