White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday that President Joe Biden’s first call to the world leader would be to Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau.
“Her first call, the call of a foreign leader will be on Friday with Prime Minister Trudeau,” she said during her first press conference at the White House after Biden’s inauguration.
“I hope they will certainly discuss the important relationship with Canada, as well as their decision on the Keystone pipeline that we announced today,” said Psaki.
Biden officially revoked the presidential license that the Trump administration granted to the controversial cross-border pipeline project.
The press secretary added that Biden will likely prioritize speaking to US allies.
“I expected your first calls to be for partners and allies,” she said. “He feels it is important to rebuild these relationships and face the challenges and threats that we face in the world.”
Psaki was also asked whether Biden will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and whether they would discuss possible retaliation for the SolarWinds hack.
The Russians were probably behind the hack that breached US government networks, according to a joint statement from several U.S. agencies, including the FBI and the National Security Agency.
“I have no plans … to read to you in terms of a connection with President Putin,” she said.
Regarding the SolarWinds hack, she said “we reserve the right to respond at any time and in any way we wish to any cyber attack”.