The more than two weeks Biden spent with only a German Shepherd for the company proved some of the most important parts of his presidency. glove.
Some White House staffers even said he felt some degree of whiplash, and Biden himself mused about the sudden turn of events.
"It's been an extraordinary few days for the country," he said Wednesday at a virtual rally of Democrats.
It goes without saying how extraordinary those days were for Biden himself, who oversaw almost everything from his White House residence and was isolated with a bare minimum of staff.
Biden is gearing up for a victory lap of sorts, with the signing of key White House bills scheduled for the next few days in the Rose Garden. He tests negative and leaves isolation.
Monday, July 25
Biden's Cabinet Officials and National Security Advisor met with him on his fourth day out of coronavirus isolation. By the time the president's runny nose had nearly stopped. His voice was not very harsh.
And I had some questions.
But Biden wanted to know what was behind the window and door to the small outdoor patio. He asked about the layout of a room near where his team proposed killing Zawahiri. And were there other options to reduce the likelihood of civilian casualties?
He had already spent time examining a small-scale model of the house that intelligence had constructed and brought in a worn wooden crate to his room in the White House Situation. But he needed to make sure the mission wouldn't cause collateral damage.
The meeting lasted several hours, according to one official. Mr. Biden was "pressured at a granular level," added another senior government official.
Biden didn't hear dissent this time. And he authorized the strike.
On Wednesday, July 27,
at 9:12 a.m. ET, Biden did his best by rubbing his nose with a cotton swab. Officially, it was his sixth day in quarantine for Covid. His symptoms had disappeared. He started working out again at the White House gym.
Biden, who mostly worked in his second-floor treaty room, a giant oil painting watched by President William McKinley, nearly went insane during his isolation. The strike he authorized two days before him is still underway as the operatives wait for the right moment.
He stepped out onto the balcony of White's House and waved to the visitors below.
"I thought I heard a grunt from the staff saying, 'Oh, he's back,' as I was walking by," he joked in the rose garden, discussing the virus he'd been through. over two years of trying to avoid it.
Beating Covid, or at least his first game, turned out not to be the biggest surprise that Wednesday. When Biden returned to work in the Oval Office, a plan was being finalized on the Capitol that could dramatically reverse the fortunes of a domestic agenda that many had left for dead. .
This climate change and tax deal in total secrecy between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, the most moderate Democrat in the Senate, The bill surprised many inside the White House. The general perception that the two men have resumed negotiations.
"They were basically kind of informed of what was going on," Manchin told reporters.
That afternoon, upon learning the men had reached an agreement, Biden went to Manchin, who had been isolated with Covid in the mountains of West Virginia, for the first formal meeting on the president's agenda. Since December when I called.
China was becoming Biden's next problem.
Thursday, July 28
Already, her potential visit has drawn heavy condemnation from Beijing, with Chinese officials warning other members of Congress not to join her.
Biden, a day before he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, told reporters the military didn't think it was a good time for a U.S. presidential runner-up to visit a dominion island. was telling
Pelosi's possible visit surfaced two weeks earlier during a meeting in Bali, China, with Secretary of State Anthony Brinken, according to a senior State Department official.
Biden listened carefully as an interpreter translated Mr. Xi's warning as he sat on a lengthy two-hour, 17-minute conference call in the Oval Office.
Members of his team in the room - Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Deputy National Security Advisor John Feiner, NSC Asia Coordinator Kurt Campbell, Sr. His Director Laura Rosenberger of The New York Times wasn't surprised by this rhetoric. Xi had used a similar phrase on an earlier call.
By the end of the conference call, Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi talked about how much work they had created for their teams, according to senior government officials.
Saturday, July 30
After not leaving his House White for 11 days, Biden was ready to break free. His home in Delaware and his wife, whom he hadn't seen in over a week, were beckoning.
All of his daily rapid tests were negative. He has returned to his regular schedule at the gym. And he was planning a surprise visit to the Capitol, where protesters had gathered after Republicans blocked a bill that would dramatically expand government benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burns. .
But even before he was stranded alone for more than his two weeks, his plans to escape the White House, a building he had come to regard as a golden cage, were foiled. finished.
Biden took Veterans Affairs Secretary Dennis McDonagh to FaceTime while delivering pizza to a group at the Capitol.
"I tell you, as long as I have breath, I will fight to get this done. As long as I have breath," he told them.
While Truman was using his FaceTime on his balcony, the situation his team in his room had determined was favorable for an attack on Zawahiri. As the sun was setting, Biden was informed that a mission was underway. Before 10:12 pm. ET, Zawahiri was dead.
Monday, August 1
The dry cough has returned. And Biden was looking at the possibility of an entirely new crisis.
At the White House, national security officials saw signs that Beijing was preparing for further provocations, including launching missiles and sending fighter jets across the Taiwan Strait.
After working over the past few weeks to inform Pelosi of the risks of visiting Taiwan, including briefings from the Pentagon and other senior government officials, it is expected that she will not stop visiting Taiwan by Monday. There was a realization that
Biden didn't believe it was his position to say she shouldn't go to Pelosi, and the two never spoke about it. He has avoided publicly commenting on her trip since his first statement on July 21st.
They did not have the results of his DNA test, instead relying on visual confirmation. One official said Biden would never address the country unless he was 100% sure of his identity.
As reporters watched from the balcony of the Blue Room through open windows at COVID-19 safe distance, Biden
said, "No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, Biden In his seven-minute speech, Mr. U.S. will find you and take you out.
Tuesday, August 2
A string of victories in the legislature will An unusual sentiment has developed in the West Wing: momentum, which Biden once hoped to capitalize on in Michigan and plans to visit Michigan on Tuesday to sign the China Competitiveness Act.
When Biden's rebound case surfaced, the trip was called off, and he virtually met with a chip maker instead, though some Democrats touted his accomplishments. He is openly concerned that the advantage of his recent victory may be thwarted because he has struggled relentlessly with the Democrats who had been waiting for their doom in the November midterm elections.
But among all the issues pending in Washington, the veterans bill was most personal to the president, who long suspected his son Beau's deadly cancer was linked to burn pit exposures in Iraq.
Biden raised his right fist as he watched the votes pass, and in his left hand he wore a Beau Biden Foundation baseball cap.
Thursday, August 4
Neither gave details of their story. But hours later, cinema broke its week-long silence on the bill as a thunderstorm raged outside the White House.
A long-standing plan has finally been put to the vote. But even as Biden's year-long agenda narrative seemed to settle, the conflict with China sparked by Pelosi's 17-hour visit to Taiwan was worsening.
Beijing sent more warships and planes near Taiwan. And at the White House, the Chinese Ambassador to Washington was brought in for a formal protest. NSC Asia coordinator Campbell condemned the escalation at a tense meeting.
Friday 5th August
Cough almost gone. The 5-day quarantine period has ended. And after 16 days without leaving the White House, Biden's surprisingly strong jobs report of 528,000 jobs added in July presented him with the perfect opportunity to finally break his isolation. I hoped it might.
After all, strong employment was the White House's strongest bulwark against recession fears. The aide made initial preparations for turning the afternoon's virtual event into an in-person one.
However, the test was still positive.
