i have been in a room where we've been working on a really hard decision, discussing a big policy choice, and i have spoken up and said, i don't know how we're going to go out or how i'm going to go out and explain that to the press. it appears to be in contradiction of something we said in the past or something we've done in the past. and we have gone back to the drawing board based on that feedback loop to make sure that the decision that we make is one that we can actually stand behind and one we can defend. that is a process that produces better results for the american people, and it's one that only works because all of you h here -- all of you are here to hold our feet to the fire. as i exit this podium for the last time, i do so in hopes that this tradition that the state department spokesperson standing behind this lectern and taking your questions is one that will continue both into the next administration and beyond because our government is better for it. our country is better for it and the world is better for it.

thank you all. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> and we take you immediately to the white house where press secretary is speaking to reporters after president biden addressed the israeli ceasefire. this is her final white house briefing. we join in progress. reporter: thank you for answering our questions the last couple of years. i know you have no readout of calls between president biden and president-elect trurp, just declaratively can you say no, there has not been a call between them on the last two weengs this specific topic of israel? karine: i have not asked that question, i don't want to get ahead of myself here. reporter: it's a yes or no question. karine: you always give me homework. every time. reporter: if i can ask you

briefly about tonight's address if you can take us into that room. who is going to be in attendance, i trust the first lady, will family members be there? anyone else? karine: it's a good question. we'll have more color for you later on in the evening. the president is looking very much looking forward to this moment. speaking directly to the american people. it's not every day you get to do an oval address. he gets to do another oval address, obviously his last one, in primetime. so we will certainly have more color of who will be in the room and what that will look like as we get closer. reporter: and last question, it's tradition that at the end of the year the president would do a news conference in advance of departure. the president would take questions on a variety of topics. what was the decision make, why did this president decide not to do either of those before his departure? karine: i think the president, especially in the past couple of days, has been pretty -- very

much engaging with all of you. taking questions. he did it today. he himself wanted to stand up a moment to talk about the economy but also take your questions just a couple of days ago. that's something he wanted to do. and your colleagues took -- wait, let me finish. your colleagues asked some really important questions that he was able to answer, an array of questions. and what i can say is i don't have anything to preview at this time but he's going to continue to engage with all of you. and you know, we have been, you know, he's been very much involved in going back and forth with all of you in the past couple of days. that's something that he wanted to make sure that he did that. reporter: were there concerns about his public performance in eat is -- in a setting like that? karine: i think -- the issue that i have with that question, peter, is that literally did a press conference with all of you

days ago with some of your colleagues and took multiple -- >> that's different than an hour-listening press conference. karine: but he took questions. he took questions on an array of issues. went back and forth. and he took questions today. he's been pretty consistent over the past couple of days. in doing that. those are questions, he doesn't know what you're going to scch. he takes them, he answers them. i think that is something that is important to him. this goes back to the freedom of the press. understanding how important you all are to our democracy. and understanding how having that continuation of a back and forth even when we don't agree is important. and so i'm pretty sure you all will can't to hear from him. the last couple of days of his administration. and he certainly looks forward to it. reporter: we're sort of tansing around who gets to take credit for this deal. karine: no one is dancing around here.

[laughter] reporter: the state department briefed our colleagues that president trump was critical in getting this deal over the line. do you not agree with that statement? karine: look. i'm not going to speak to a random person -- i don't know who is person is what i can say is look, obviously, matt miller will speak for himself. what i can say is, there is -- there are steps that were taken here that's really important and critical. that started with this president starting a framework that was agreed upon by the world back in may. and that was because of this president. that was because he was able to lay out his thoughts, his thinking on how to move forward with this negotiation. what i said before, this is someone who understands foreign policy as i'm talking about the president. he understands how difficult it is. this was not an easy one. and so he has the experience, was able to get that going, to get that started. so this has been going on for

some time. it has. i mean that's just the reality of it. that's the facts of it. have we been working closely with the incoming trump administration, their transition team? yes. we have been very forthcoming about that. but the fact of the matter is, it took someone who has the experience at that the president had to get this going, to get this moving, to understand what negotiations look like. and that's what this president was able to bring to the table. and it got done under his watch. it got done today. >> obviously this is a really big day on the foreign policy, national security front. this is your last briefing or the administration's last believing. is there a reason why john kirby isn't here to take questions? karine: i just mentioned that brett mcgirk will be holding a national security council, is holding up a call, i think that's going to be really important. they will talk more about the implementation of this. national security adviser jake

sullivan was just here two days ago on monday. and i think kind of laid out a really good framework for all of this the thinking process, how it was going to move forward. brett mcgirk is on the ground. he has all of the information, he has been there at the direction of the president. certainly with national security adviser jake sullivan leading that effort. and so he's going to have a lot more information than any of us here. will have. because he's been on the ground. understanding, working with the negotiators and understanding how this process has worked. so that's how this works. >> you said that you wish your successor luck. have you had any extensive conversations with her? about this job? karine: i haven't. but i'm not -- i'm not the only white house press secretary or soon to be former white house

press secretary out there. i'm sure there are many people for her to connect with and speak with. but i have not had a conversation with her. reporter: how many americans will be in the first trawnch and when will they start coming out? karine: that's a good question. that's why brett mcgirk will hold the call and have that information. the president said the same thing when he was asked a similar question, that we'll have more details to share. so the national security council brett mcgirk will share that with all of you momentarily. >> why we're having the last briefing of the administration on what's been one of the defining woofers this presidency without being able to answer those questions. karine: i just said he's going to hold a press call, he'll take your questions on that. i think that's important to hear directly from the person on the ground. i think that's an important thing to do. reporter: we were under the impression that there were folks here in the building who had those answers, who could tell us.

karine: the national security council is holding up a call so brett mcgirk can get on that call and take your questions. reporter: why sit that you seem unwilling to extend any credit to trump for this deal? couldn't you just have said, hold off until i'm in office? karine: what i will say is that what we know to be true, what we know this process, how it has moved over the past eight months, this is a deal that happened under the framework that this president put forward. and was endorsed by the world. and this is also an administration that has had certainly the support, the babbing of israel that helped denigrate hamas, their military, severely weaken them. and we created, because of also being, doing that, we created the conditions for