Biden Ends His Tribal Nations Summit Remarks with a Story About Xi Jinping: ‘Over 108 Hours Alone with Him’

Biden: “Let me close with this. This is my final White House Tribal Nations Summit as your president. It’s been an overwhelming honor. I mean this sincerely. An honor of a lifetime to usher in a new era of tribal sovereignty and self-determination, a new era grounded in dignity and respect that I’ve seen and experienced in many ways. In October, I had the honor to bestow one of our nation’s highest medals, the National Medal of Humanities on Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve this nation as poet laureate. She once wrote, and I quote: ‘You are a story fed by generations. You carry songs of grief, triumph and loss. Feel their power as they ascend with you, as you walk, run swiftly, even fly into infinite possibilities.’ End of quote. To all the tribal nations, I say thank you, and I mean this sincerely. Thank you for your partnership. Thank you for your trust in me. But most of all, thank you for your friendship and always believing, as I do, that the possibilities of our nation are limitless. I was once asked when I spent more time with Xi Jinping in China than any other world leader has. Over 108 hours alone with him. I was in the Tibetan Plateau with him in China. And he looked at me and said, ‘can you define America for me?’ And this is on the record. I said yes, one word. He looked at me through translator. I said ‘possibilities’. In America, we believe anything is possible if we do it together. And that’s what we’ve done, damn it, we’re going to continue doing it. Thank you. (cheers and applause)”