President Joe Biden skipped an important diplomatic dinner at the G20 summit in Indonesia on Tuesday.
The White House remained vague about the reason for Biden’s decision not to attend the dinner, noting that the president had “a full day in meetings” and that it was not coronavirus related.
“He just had spent a full day in meetings and needed to attend to a few things tonight (nothing urgent),” a White House official told reporters on background.
Biden delivered remarks at a global infrastructure meeting and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joko Widodo. He also met with Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni and separately with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with United States President Joe Biden (L) as part of the G20 leaders’ Summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 15, 2022. (Emin Sansar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The White House said Biden sent his “regrets” to Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo for missing the dinner and a cultural event that followed.
“The president looks forward to seeing him at the mangrove thing tomorrow,” the official added.
The elaborate dinner with Widodo and his wife Iriana took place without Biden in Badung on the island of Bali.
Chinese dictator Xi Jinping was present for the dinner as well as Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau, French President Emanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
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