Biden to Visit New Orleans to Attend Prayer Service
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will travel to New Orleans Monday to attend an interfaith prayer service honoring the victims of the deadly New Year’s attack in the city’s fabled French Quarter.
The Bidens are expected to arrive in the Crescent City in the afternoon, landing at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport a few hours before the service, which is being hosted by the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
The visit comes less than a week after Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran and Houston realtor, allegedly drove a rented truck at high speed down Bourbon Street, plowing through revelers in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
At least 14 people were killed and dozens were injured in the attack, which ended with Jabbar engaging in a gun battle with police in the heart of the popular tourist destination.
The prayer service, which is open to the public, is scheduled to begin at about 6 p.m. CST at the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France.
But the somber visit to New Orleans is just the start of a busy week for the president.
Later, the Bidens will fly to Los Angeles, where they will stay overnight before heading to the eastern Coachella Valley Tuesday morning to announce the creation of a new national monument south of Joshua Tree National Park.
Though details of the visit Biden’s plans have not yet been announced, Native American tribes and environmentalists have for years been asking the president to set aside a large swath of land lying between the valley and the Colorado River for what they hope will be the “Chuckwalla National Monument.”
On Wednesday morning, the president and first lady will depart Los Angeles to return to Washington, D.C., where, on Thursday, they and Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhof will attend a memorial service for former President Jimmy Carter at the National Cathedral.
On Wednesday afternoon, Biden and the first lady will once again be leaving Washington, this time to travel to Rome to meet with Pope Francis, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last month that this, likely the final international trip of Biden’s presidency, came about as a result of the Pope’s invitation to visit the Vatican.
Jean-Pierre said Biden and Francis will “discuss efforts to advance peace around the world.”
She went on to say the president will use his final meeting with Meloni to “discuss important challenges facing the world” and to thank her for Italy’s leadership as the country ends its yearlong, rotating presidency at the Group of Seven.
Meloni, one of Europe’s most prominent conservative leaders, paid something of a surprise visit to President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday.
The informal visit is widely seen as Meloni’s attempt to position herself as Trump’s primary European ally, giving her a key role in mediating tensions between the upcoming Trump administration and other European leaders over trade, the war in Ukraine and other issues.
In addition to Trump, Meloni also met with several incoming administration officials, including Secretary of State designee Marco Rubio.
“This is very exciting,” Trump said as he walked Meloni into the grand ballroom at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday.
“I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy. She’s really taken Europe by storm, and everyone else, and we’re just having dinner tonight,” the president-elect said.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue
We're proud to make our journalism accessible to everyone, but producing high-quality journalism comes at a cost. That's why we need your help. By making a contribution today, you'll be supporting TWN and ensuring that we can keep providing our journalism for free to the public.
Donate now and help us continue to publish TWN’s distinctive journalism. Thank you for your support!
