WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says he’s still confident a deal can be made with Republicans that will keep the U.S. from defaulting on its debt.
Biden, who is on an overseas trip, said he was “not at all” concerned about debt talks, which briefly stopped and restarted on Friday.
“I still believe we’ll be able to avoid a default and we’ll get something decent done,” Biden said Saturday in Japan.
Biden commented on debt ceiling talks during a bilateral meeting with Australian President Anthony Albanese while attending the Group of Seven Summit in Hiroshima.
The U.S. president apologized to his counterpart during the meeting for canceling a planned visit to Australia. Biden nixed the stop from his overseas trip so he could return to Washington sooner amid heated negotiations over the debt ceiling and federal spending.
Albanese told Biden he would have made the same decision under similar circumstances.
“All politics is local,” Albanese said. “You would always be a very welcome visitor in Australia, as you have been in the past.” Biden told the leader, “And all politics may be local, but our friendship is permanent.”